A promising new field, virtual reality (VR) offers immersive experiences that can take people to unfamiliar worlds. However, the question of whether or not businesses should put more emphasis on immersion and storytelling when using VR to ease transactions arises. Understanding VR’s special potential and how it affects creating sincere interactions with customers holds the key to finding the solution.
In essence, virtual reality (VR) is a technology that can completely immerse users in a brand’s story. It creates an atmosphere where customers can directly experience the essence, values, and mission of the brand in addition to interacting with its products. The difference between VR and conventional advertising techniques lies in its immersive nature.
Brands can take customers to various worlds, both real and made-up, through immersive VR experiences, creating a lasting and emotional connection. For example, a travel agency may utilize VR to give potential clients a taste of far-off locales, enabling them to hear the ocean waves or experience the rush of adrenaline from a zip line excursion. Such encounters have the capacity to make a strong impression and connect with customers.
The Pitfall of Transactional Storytelling:
Despite the enormous narrative potential of VR, many businesses still only use it as a means of making sales. Customers frequently feel this strategy is unauthentic. Customers who use VR headsets anticipate being transported, entertained, and informed rather than being inundated with advertisements.
Transactional storytelling in virtual reality can be abrupt and shatter the spell of immersion. Customers frequently get the impression that they are being exploited or manipulated for profit rather than feeling like they have a genuine relationship with the brand. This strategy falls short of utilizing VR’s full potential as a tool for genuine engagement.
The importance of knowledge, trust, and experience:
Brands need to understand that virtual reality (VR) is a platform for education, trust-building, and experiences, not just a sales tool. Brands may position themselves as trustworthy sources of information and entertainment in their respective industries by developing relevant and authentic VR experiences.
One company that has done this is the footwear and accessory brand Manolo Blahnik, which has created an online virtual room to honor the world of creativity and expert craftsmanship.
The online virtual experience, titled “The Manolo Blahnik Archives: The Craft,” focuses on eight essential steps in the creation of a pair of shoes and offers insight into Blahnik’s creative process, from the initial sketches to the expert craftsmanship in their Italian workshop.
The chief executive officer, Kristina Blahnik, designed the virtual experience.
Another example concerns the companies Meta and BMW, who assert to have made great progress on their virtual reality project for the auto industry.
The two businesses announced a revision to its cooperation in May. It was first formed in 2021 to look into how augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) may be incorporated into intelligent automobiles.
Moving automobiles present a difficult task for tracking technology like Oculus Insight, which uses both inertial motion sensors (IMUs) and cameras to correctly predict the headset’s location and motion, according to Meta at the time. “VR headsets are equipped with a number of sensors, but moving vehicles pose a tricky challenge,” she added.
To solve this problem, Meta worked with BMW to seamlessly incorporate real-time IMU data from a BMW vehicle’s sensor array into Meta’s Project Aria research eyewear. This made it possible for the system to precisely determine where the glasses were in relation to the vehicle.
This was a significant achievement since, after switching the tracking system to a Meta Quest Pro, it enabled accurate anchoring of virtual items to moving cars utilizing digital twins of the vehicles, according to Meta.
When it comes to companies researching VR for transactional uses, Amazon launched Amazon Anywhere in May, allowing customers to purchase physical goods from inside virtual environments.
In addition, Amazon lets users browse and purchase real products from the retail giant inside of virtual settings like video games, augmented reality (AR), and mobile applications.
The program made its premiere in Niantic’s augmented reality game Peridot, which allows players to control AI-driven pets.
